10. KATHERINE RICH (National) Link to this
to the Minister of Commerce
Does she stand by her statement regarding the Government’s review of regulations announced following the 2006 Budget that “Nothing of this magnitude has been attempted before.”?
If this is the biggest review of regulations that New Zealand has ever seen, can the Minister explain why she told the Commerce Committee: “We haven’t developed a budget for it. We’re doing it out of baselines.”?
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
It is perfectly possible to do a wide-ranging review out of baselines. If that member ever gets the chance, she may find she has to.
Lynne PillayHon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
Support has been received from a wide range of business organisations, including the Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Business New Zealand, and the sector groups participating in the sector reviews. The only negative response that I saw was from Katherine Rich, who said there was a “collective groan” from business. It might have been one of those groans of pleasure, of course.
Why does the Minister continue to promote her review as being “horizontal, vertical, fast-track, and in-depth. In other words it’s dynamic”, when she cannot explain how the fast-track mechanism is going to work, and can say only: “Well, we haven’t got the paper finished yet, but what we are planning to do is look where departments can fix things.”?
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
We already have buy in from business sector groups to the sector reviews. We have support from Business New Zealand. Work is ongoing, and the member should wait—she will have a long time to wait, in Opposition—to see these reviews unfold.
Can the Minister confirm to the House that her fancy “fast-track mechanism” is just an omnibus bill, a process that has always been open to the Government; is that not just another example of economic transformation spin?
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
No, I do not have the document in front of me, but I am sure there is a large flow diagram associated with the fast-track review.
Chris TremainHow can the New Zealand business community have confidence that the regulations review will be any more successful than other reviews conducted by that Minister, especially when the Small Business Advisory Group has already scored the Minister at as low as two out of 10 for the implementation of recommendations from its recent report into issues faced by small business?
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
My recollection is that roughly 90 percent of all the recommendations of the Small Business Advisory Group have either been implemented or are being implemented. The one, of course, that is not is the proposal for a 90-day ability for employers to take on people and boot them out without any good reason.
Why does the Minister not just admit that her review is hot air, because she has no budget, no extra money at all, and no idea how the fast-track mechanism will work, and because she has directed that all key policy areas of interest to business are off limits?
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
Not all of that statement is correct, but the member will need to learn that it is possible to carry out change without spending more money. If she does not, of course, she will find it difficult to support programmes for large tax cuts, which imply increases in spending.